Owners deny Kings relocation bid

The Kings will remain in Sacramento after the NBA’s owners voted to deny their bid to relocate to Seattle following a lengthy meeting Wednesday in Dallas.

Various outlets reported the owners as having voted 22-8 in favor of keeping the Kings in Sacramento, where the team has built a devoted following despite precious little success in nearly three decades there.

The Kings had been reportedly on the verge of being sold to a Seattle ownership group several months ago. That kicked off a frantic grassroots effort to keep the franchise put, a task made difficult by a severely deteriorated relationship between local interests and the Maloof family that owns the Kings.

Seattle billionaire Chris Hansen upped his offering price for the team to a record $409 million, as well as a relocation payout of $4 million per team, in order to sway owners, but to no avail.

NBA commissioner David Stern said at an evening news conference he expects a sale to a new local ownership group will eventually go through.